Babe's Eye View article

As expected, Archbishop Oscar Cruz criticized GMA's SONA and said it was "physically and morally impossible" to achieve. I will agree with the good Bishop that it will indeed be physically and morally impossible to push through with this vision if he and the institution he represents continue their conservative view on population growth.

The only way to balance off economic expansion and poverty alleviation is by managing the population growth rate. (Remember, the operative word is "manage," not "cut.") It doesn't take a rocket scientist to illustrate this with an example. If a couple can afford to feed 10 children, then it's fine to have them. But if they cannot, then obviously the solution is to lessen the number of children.

Economic analyst Peter Wallace has been consistent in saying that economic growth will only translate into a better quality of life for Filipinos, especially the poor, if we manage the population growth rate. The recent census projection shows there will be 88.7 million Filipinos by year-end. In less than 20 years, that number could more than double to 180 million.

As it is, this country needs more revenue sources other than taxation to sustain economic growth. One can only squeeze so much from the rich and the big corporations. Otherwise, they will simply transfer to another country if government keeps making it more expensive to do business here. We need more money for education and we need to encourage more entrepreneurs to create a wider middle class that can lead to more government revenue.

One area that brings in high returns, but which the Church is totally against is the gaming industry. PAGCOR chairman Efraim Genuino, a Rotary Club member, said he had a vision of an "entertainment city" project that integrates gaming with entertainment. (In Las Vegas, only 20 percent of total earnings come from casinos; the other 80 percent actually comes from entertainment.)

PAGCOR kicked off this vision with the musical extravaganza "Wanders," which is supposedly wholesome entertainment suitable for the whole family. This "entertainment city" concept can potentially bring in $1 billion a year in revenues for social services, but there seems to be a lot of resistance again from the good bishop and the Church. So what's the problem with entertainment this time? Certainly, we can't feed the poor with "cake."

The economy is doing well, but a 5-6 percent growth is not enough. We need about 7-8 percent to catch up with the present population growth rate, and consequently, create additional revenue with more people paying taxes. While GMA's programs sound laudable, some things may be difficult to achieve if there are more people than available resources can cope with.

The quality of education is another area that has to be addressed since it has substantially deteriorated with more students but lesser teachers. The P145 billion allocation is a lot of money, but that will need to be tripled in the next 10 years because of the growing population. Who knows where the money will come from then.

Businessmen agree that things are much better today than they were a decade ago. And no matter how low the popularity rating of GMA supposedly is, only a few can dispute that she has done fairly well as far as the economy is concerned—in spite of all the negatives. People who knew her as DTI undersecretary say she has a commendable work ethic, comparable to FVR who used to wake up at 4:30 a.m. In fact, FVR used to joke that his administration was a 24-hour presidency. He said that while he was waking up at 4:30 a.m. to prepare for work, his vice president Erap Estrada was just coming in to sleep.

Criticisms are good, but the worst thing one can do is to criticize just for the sake of it without offering any solution. Bringing down a country's leader is not going to feed people or bring about instant economic miracles. Which reminds us of EDSA I where there was so much anger and hatred. During those "angry years" after EDSA I—where anything Marcos was considered bad—the late energy minister Geronimo Velasco had a verbal exchange with a Cory Cabinet Secretary during a televised interview on the topic of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, which was regarded as the symbol of the ultimate in corruption. Velasco—who was not well liked by people—warned that we had to find alternative energy sources, predicting a power shortage since the Bataan nuclear plant was discarded. But the Cabinet Secretary arrogantly told him, "We don't need your advice, Mr. Velasco. We need you to tell us about the Bataan nuclear plant corruption." In fairness to Velasco—he was right. Sure enough, many years of darkness followed before FVR stepped in with a full-blown energy program—solving the crisis within two years.

Today, the country faces the possibility of another energy shortage not necessarily because of an impending drought, but because we still need to build alternative sources of energy like hydroelectric plants, geothermal wells, wind farms and others within the next five years if we are to bring in more investments.

The SONA was a "feel good" message, and we hope it can in fact happen. But if we continue to dwell on the negative, then it definitely will be "physically and morally impossible" to achieve. I remember a story told to me by a friend about his relative who was so negative and had nothing good to say about the Philippines. He told this relative, "Why don't you pack up and find another country because the Philippines doesn't need people like you." The relative migrated, but died shortly after—bitter, lonely and homesick.